One does not have to wonder through the job rumor blogs to sense that universities are in trouble. All one needs to know is the cost of tuition at a top school. The spiraling costs are unsustainable as we have a few trends that will make it hard to continue--the equity crisis will make it hard for middle class folks to borrow money for their kids' education, the fiscal crisis will worsen the existing trend for states to reduce support for public institutions; and the drop in the stock market has shocked even those with the deepest of pockets (Harvard, Stanford).
So, what should we do? I have no clue, but this review covers two books that might be of interest.
Fewer kids will go to college, like in Europe. When they do, there will be more of them going to community colleges and junior colleges. More kids will go to tech and trade schools in hopes of learning specific skills to get the few jobs in various tech, industrial, environmental, engineering and health care fields. A number of the private schools will go out of business. Scholarships will dry up. Small businesses that try to import and sell products regionally will develop, but they won't provide a lot of jobs because the businesses will have a hard time getting credit. There will be fewer doctors. The wealthy will have an abundant supply of cheap labor, which is what a particular movement that has been advising the Republicans for decades has been after all along.
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